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The Basics
Score: Oral Roberts 65 – Texas Southern 63
Record: ORU (2-3, 0-0) – TSU (0-5, 0-0)
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma (Mabee Center)
 
TULSA, Okla. – After trailing the majority of the night, the ORU men's basketball team came back to defeat the SWAC favorite Texas Southern Tigers, 65-63, Tuesday evening at the Mabee Center on Native American Appreciation night.
 
Oral Roberts extended its home win streak to 18 after a close battle with the Tigers, in front of a crowd just shy of 6,000. Issac McBride led all scorers with 23 points on the night for his third-straight 20-plus point outing. McBride was accompanied by Jailen Bedford who had a career high 14 points and DeShang Weaver who added 13. Weaver recorded three blocks in the contest to total 18 blocks on the season. The 18 blocks places Weaver No. 1 in the nation in total blocks this season.
 
The game did not start out in favor of the Golden Eagles. The 2023 SWAC favorites opened the game on a 9-0 run before ORU's Bedford hit a three-pointer to put the Golden Eagles on the board. After another three by McBride, ORU was on an 8-2 run to make it 11-8 after the under 16 media timeout. The Tigers continued to shoot well as ORU was able to make it a three point contest three more times in the first half before a 7-0 TSU run game the visitors a 10 point lead with 5:24 left in the first. ORU trailed at the break, 37-26, after shooting 31 percent from the field.
 
 Texas Southern led by as much as 13, four times in the second half. With 15:29 to play, the Golden Eagles turned on the jets and went on an 11-0 run in the span of three minutes before the under 12 minute media timeout. With 10:52 to go, ORU finally tied the game, 49-49. Down the stretch there were nine lead changes, but with 3:05 left, ORU took a two point lead, 62-60. With 44 seconds, TSU hit a three to take a one point lead, but Weaver gave the Golden Eagles the lead back on the other end after going 2-for-2 from the charity stripe on the following possession. ORU then had a 65-63 lead with two seconds left as TSU's Deon Stroud, who led the Tigers with 20 points, missed the final shot giving the Golden Eagles their 18-straight home victory.
 
For the first time this season, the Golden Eagles out-rebounded their opponent on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. Bedford led ORU with nine rebounds for his career high. Sir Issac Herron had a season high five points, six rebounds and two rebounds for the highest plus-minus statistic in the game for either team.

Individual Leaders
Oral Roberts: McBride scored 23 and Bedford had nine rebounds.

Texas Southern: Deon Stroud scored 20 points and Jahmar Young Jr. grabbed eight boards.

Inside the Box Score/News & Notes
- ORU shot 33.3 percent from the three-point line.
 
- ORU shot 37.3 percent from the field.

- The Golden Eagles had eight assists on 22 made baskets.

- Oral Roberts had 22 points in the paint and seven bench points.

- ORU forced TSU to eight turnovers and scored 11 points off those takeaways.

- McBride's 23 points made it his third-straight game with 20-plus points and fifth-straight of 10-plus points.  

- Weaver ended the night with three blocks to now lead the nation in total blocks this season. He also had his fifth-straight double-digit game.

Up Next
The Golden Eagles will head back out on the road to visit Manhattan, Kansas, Tuesday, November 28 to face the Kansas State Wildcats from the Big 12 Conference at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

For the latest information on ORU Men's Basketball, follow the Golden Eagles on Twitter and Instagram, or go to www.ORUAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on the team by downloading the ORU Athletics app from the App Store or Google Play Store.